Dear Congregation,
Grace and peace to you! The Rev. David Long-Higgins, Heartland Conference UCC Minister, recently posted this Poem/Prayer on a Facebook group for UCC ministers to which I belong. I think it’s quite lovely and inspirational, and so am sharing it with you. May each of us endeavor to have our “little life” mirror God!
Blessings on each step of your life’s journey.
In Christ’s love.
Pastor Candy
A Mirrored Life
A Prayer Inspired by the Apostle Paul
Loving God,
Form my life as a mirror
Reflecting something of You
Into the world today.
Grant me patience
With myself and others
Giving space for Your grace
To rise in unexpected ways.
Gift me with kindness
Opening my soul
To soften the roughness
Often conjured up within
And necessary for a world
Bent on meanness of spirit.
Release me from envy
Preventing my gratitude
For the many gifts You give
In perpetual outpouring
Overlooked by my restless heart.
Forgive my boasting
Born of forgetfulness
That all good arises
From the grace of You
Bearing itself in small ways
In my short, little, life.
Remove any arrogance
Separating me from You
And your promised appearing
In others easily overlooked
By my narrowed vision
Too often consumed
With ego’s fearful song.
Release me from rudeness
Toward anyone or anything
Easily taking for granted
The gift they are from You
Yet run over by my fatigue
Or overeager attachment
To efficiencies that overlook
Your arrival in the ordinary
In-between of the momentary.
Free me from myself
Getting out of the way
Of ego’s insistent design
Instead consenting to You
In loving submission
Persistently opening
A new way in me.
Dismantle my irritation
Often born of failures within
Yet too frequently projected
On others close whom I love.
Release me from resentments
Carried too long in my heart
Burdening me with a weight
Unnecessary and unhelpful
Preventing me from receiving
The multiple gifts You offer
If only I will entrust to You
These burdens of my making.
Grant me the joy
Of turning away from wrong
In thought, word, and deed
And toward the truth
Of Your persistent love
Bearing healing and hope
In perpetual rejoicing
At all You make possible.
Yes, Love,
Bear me up for this
Strengthening my trust
In Your eternal promise
That You, O Love,
Will never stop loving
Me or anyone else
In Your whole creation.
Yes, Love,
Form me ever anew
Mirroring Your love
In my little life
That matters to You.
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